1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to land vehicles and in particular to utility truck bed covers.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Bed covers are a popular and useful accessories for utility trucks. Very often such bed covers comprise a rigid structure which are permanently affixed to the utility truck. Disadvantages to such structures are that they are often relatively heavy and may adversely affect fuel efficiency on vehicles on which they are installed and that they often require relatively large amounts of space for their transportation and storage before installation. Further, the installation of such covers is often a relatively time consuming and expensive procedure, often done by a specialist.
It has also been suggested that bed covers be constructed of flexible materials which are supported on a rigid frame. Such arrangements are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,688,787, 4,289,346, 3,901,548 and 3,231,305. While such arrangements would appear to be lighter in weight than most rigid bed covers, they would also appear to be relatively expensive and time consuming to install.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide an utility truck bed cover which is light in weight, which can be easily installed by the truck owner and which requires only a small amount of space during storage and shipment. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a utility truck bed cover which may be removed when the truck operator is not carrying cargo requiring such a cover.